Many types of spring-tension-rewind tape measures are available today. The longer tapes usually require manual rewinding to assist the spring; therefore, the tape measures include an external handle. This handle is in constant danger of being broken, lost, or damaged when the tape measure is used.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,054,573 discloses an improved tape measure which eliminates projecting parts, such as handles, by using gears within the tape to augment the spring tension. The spring and driving gears are separated in sealed compartments. Although an improvement over the external-handle tape measures, this gear-type tape measure still presents serious problems to economical construction and efficient use. For example, the gears of the tape measure can foul with dirt during logging and other uses of the tape measure. Modern improvements in spring metal have eliminated the necessity of using a gear system to provide the necessary spring tensioning force to retract even long tapes. The advent of the modern springs has allowed improvements to the tape measure, especially the removal of gears, which are incorporated in the improved tape measure of this invention.